Salted Caramel Chocolate Tartlets
Desserts
September 27, 2026
Salted Caramel Chocolate Tartlets
Crisp, buttery pastry shells filled with toasted hazelnuts, a gooey layer of salted butter caramel and a smooth dark chocolate ganache, finished with flakes of fleur de sel. Sweet, salty, and indulgent!
September 27, 2026
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These salted caramel chocolate tartlets came out of meeting a new neighbour last week. She keeps chickens too, and she gave me her extra eggs. I told her I’d turn them into a cake and we could have it together over coffee. When I asked what her favourite flavours were, she said chocolate and lemon.
I’d always wanted to make those fancy chocolate tartlets you see in French bakeries, so I decided to go for it. But with a twist: these ones have salted caramel and flaky salt from Brittany, for the perfect balance between sweet and salty. It’s addictive, truly.
Ironically, I only needed one of her eggs, for the glaze. They sound complicated, but these chocolate tartlets are actually pretty straightforward to make. You just need a bit of patience, because each layer has to set before the next one goes on. If you want something to impress your neighbours, guests at Christmas, or just because, these always go down well!
Table of Contents
Where ganache comes from
“Ganache” isn’t a compliment in French. It’s the word for the back of a horse’s lower jaw, and by extension for someone a bit slow. Call your neighbour une vieille ganache and you’ve called him an old fool. So how did it end up as the best bit of a chocolate tartlets?
The story every French pâtissier knows goes like this. Sometime in the 19th century, a clumsy apprentice spilled hot cream into a bowl of melted chocolate. His boss called him a ganache, tasted the mess, and actually loved it. It’s a lovely story, but nobody has ever found any evidence that it really happened.
True or fairytale, what you need to make it is equal weights of chocolate and cream. This will give you a ganache that sets in the fridge and softens again on the table!
Ingredients
- Shortcrust pastry: Homemade or store-bought, both work. If you’re buying it, look for all-butter on the label.
- Dark chocolate: Around 60–70% cocoa. Anything sweeter and the tartlets turn cloying.
- Hazelnuts: Whole, skins on is fine. Most of the skins rub off once they’re toasted.
- Salted butter caramel: A jar of “caramel au beurre salé” or your own. It should be spreadable at room temperature.
- Cream: French crème entière liquide is 30–35% fat. In the UK, use whipping cream. Double cream is much richer and makes a heavier, firmer ganache.
- Flaky salt: Just a few flakes on top.
How to make salted caramel chocolate tartlets
1. Bake the shells
Line the tins with your shortcrust pastry (pâte brisée), chill them properly and blind bake until deep golden. A quick egg yolk glaze on the outside gives them the pâtisserie shine.
2. Seal and fill
Paint the inside of each cooled shell with melted chocolate and press in the toasted hazelnuts. Once that’s set, spread over a thin layer of salted caramel and firm it up in the freezer.
3. Ganache and set
Pour warm, not hot, ganache over the caramel right up to the rim. Finish with hazelnuts and fleur de sel, then leave them in the fridge to set.
4. Bring them back
Take them out a little before serving, so the ganache softens and the caramel goes gooey again.
Tools for this recipe
Check out my favorite kitchen essentials and cookware!
- Use 8 cm tartlet rings, about 2 cm deep, loose-bottomed or perforated rings.
- Use baking beans or rice for the blind bake.
- Use a small soft pastry brush for the egg glaze and the chocolate seal.
- Use a kitchen thermometer to check the ganache before pouring.
Tips for success
- Bake the shells fully: none of the fillings go back in the oven, so the pastry needs to be a deep golden colour. Pale pastry tastes of flour; well-baked pastry tastes of butter.
- Seal them with chocolate: a thin layer of melted chocolate inside the cooled shells stops the caramel and ganache softening the pastry. It also holds the hazelnuts in place.
- Keep the caramel thin: salted butter caramel stays soft, which is what makes it so good. Too much of it, though, and the ganache slides off when you bite in. About a quarter of the height of the tartlet is plenty.
- Don’t pour the ganache hot: at 35–40°C it’s still pourable but won’t melt into the caramel underneath.
How to store it
- Keep the tartlets covered in the fridge and eat them within two days, while the hazelnuts are still crunchy and the pastry still crisp.
More bakery recipes to try
Variations
- Other nuts: almonds or walnuts work in place of the hazelnuts, toasted the same way. Walnuts would be a nod to Le Roux’s original.
- Praliné instead of caramel: a thin layer of hazelnut praliné paste gives you a nuttier, less sticky tartlet.
- A Breton finish: crumble a few crêpes dentelle over the top instead of the reserved hazelnuts, just before serving, so they stay crisp.
- Serving: with a small glass of Banyuls, the sweet red from Roussillon that the French pour with chocolate.
FAQ
Can I use sweet shortcrust pastry instead of shortcrust pastry?
Yes. Pâte sucrée, or a sweet shortcrust pastry, works well and gives a sweeter, more biscuit-like shell. With a filling this rich, though, I prefer the balance of a buttery, slightly salty shortcrust pastry.
Can I turn leftover pâte brisée into pâte sucrée?
Not really. Pâte sucrée gets its texture from creaming butter with sugar and egg, and kneading sugar into finished shortcrust pastry overworks the dough and makes it tough. Use it as it is.
How do I stop the pastry going soggy?
Bake the shells fully, until deep golden, and seal the inside with a thin layer of melted chocolate before adding the caramel.
Why do my tartlet cases shrink?
Usually because they went into the oven too warm. Chill the lined tins for at least 30 minutes, ideally an hour, and bake them straight from the fridge.
Can I use shop-bought salted caramel?
Yes. A good jar of caramel au beurre salé works perfectly. Just keep the layer thin, as it stays soft.
Can I use milk chocolate for the ganache?
You can, but milk chocolate sets softer, so use more chocolate than cream. The tartlets will be sweeter too.
Can I make them ahead?
Bake the shells a day ahead and keep them in an airtight tin. Fill them on the day, or the day before serving at the latest.
Prep Time 45 minutes 
Cook Time 35 minutes 
Total Time 5 hours 20 minutes 
Servings 8 tartletsDescription
Crisp, buttery pastry shells filled with toasted hazelnuts, a gooey layer of salted butter caramel and a smooth dark chocolate ganache, finished with flakes of fleur de sel. Sweet, salty, and indulgent!
Ingredients
For the chocolate seal
- 50 gr dark chocolate 60–70%
For the filling
- 60 gr hazelnuts
- 120 gr salted butter caramel homemade or from a jar
For the ganache
- 200 gr dark chocolate 60–70%
- 200 gr heavy whipping cream crème entière liquide
To glaze and finish
- 1 egg yolk loosened
- tbsp milk or cream
- flaky salt
Instructions
1. Line a tart rings
- Line a tart rings with the shortcrust pastry. With rings, there's no need to blind bake. For a single deep tin, blind bake with baking beans at 180°C for about 15 minutes.
2. Chill the cases
- Put the lined tins in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, ideally an hour, or 15 to 20 minutes in the freezer. This is what stops the pastry shrinking down the sides. Bake straight from cold.
3. Blind bake the shells
- Heat the oven to 180°C (fan 160°C). Line each shell with baking paper and fill with baking beans or rice. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until the edges are set. Remove the paper and beans and bake for another 8 to 10 minutes, until the bases are dry and the shells are an even deep golden.
4. Glaze the shells
- Carefully unmould the shells, set them on a baking tray and brush the outsides and rims thinly with the egg yolk mixture. Return to the oven for 3 to 5 minutes, until shiny and golden. Leave to cool completely.
5. Toast the hazelnuts
- Spread them on a tray and toast at 150–160°C for 10 to 15 minutes, until fragrant. Rub them in a clean tea towel to remove most of the skins, then chop very roughly or leave as is. Set a small handful aside for decoration.
6. Seal the shells
- Melt the chocolate for the seal and brush or spoon a thin layer inside each cooled shell. While it's still soft, press in the chopped hazelnuts. Chill for about 10 minutes until set.
7. Add the caramel
- Spoon about a tablespoon of salted butter caramel over the hazelnuts in each shell and smooth it out. If yours is too thick to spread, warm it for a few seconds. Put the tartlets in the freezer for 15 minutes to firm up the surface, so the ganache doesn't mix into it.
8. Make the ganache
- Chop the chocolate finely and put it in a bowl. Bring the cream just to a simmer and pour it over the chocolate. Leave for a minute, then stir gently from the centre outwards until smooth and glossy. Let it cool to around 35–40°C: still pourable, but no longer hot enough to melt the caramel.
9. Fill and set the tartlets
- Pour the ganache over the caramel right up to the rim. Tap the tartlets lightly on the worktop to release air bubbles. Scatter over the reserved hazelnuts and a tiny pinch of fleur de sel, then chill for about 2 hours until set.
10. Serve the tartlets
- Take them out of the fridge 15 to 25 minutes before serving, so the ganache softens and the caramel turns gooey again.
Notes
- Tin depth: the quantities are for 8 cm tins about 2 cm deep.
- Make ahead: bake the shells a day ahead and keep them in an airtight tin.
- Storage: covered in the fridge, eaten within two days.
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